


^^^ 




,^^l 

•.;j:\^«>^ 




INSTRUCTIONS TO FOREMAN 



AND 

HOW TO BECOME 
A FOREMAN. 



By F. R. Vosburgh 



r 

AND 



Walter Ames, 

CHICAGO, ILL. 



128 



Curt Teich & Co., 117-119 Lake St., 
Chicago, III. 



LIBRARY' of CONGRESS 
Two Oooles Received 

JUL 2S 1904 

C^ Cooyrtirht iEntry 
iLASSfS cc XXcl No. 

R / ^ H- X 

' COPY 8 



COPYRIGHTED 1904 

BY 

FRANK R. VOSBURGH. 



WALTER AMES. 



-t- 



S'l 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

Preface 9—10 

Introduction 11 — 16 

Government 17 — 35 

Visiting- other shops 36 

Conservatism 37 

Steadiness 37 — 38 

Consoling" 38 

Thoughtfulness 39 

Memory 40 

Duty the foreman owes to his men 41 — 42 

Giving work to new men 42 — 43 

Taking advantage of work 43 — 44 

Beginning 44 — 45 

Requirements of a good mechanic 46 

Habit 47 

Commanding appearance 48 

Self-control 49 

Self-possession 50 

Reform 51 

The apprentice 52 — 54 

L<evity 55 

Manners 56 

The meetings of foremen 56 — 57 

Monotonous work 57 — 58 



8 

PAGE. 

Aspiring foremen 59 — 63 

Number of men for foremen 64—65 

Foremen should be given a great deal of con- 
sideration 66 — 67 

Sanitary conditions 68 — ^70 

Pay for foreman 70—71 

First day's work 72—73 

Idleness 73 

Allowing others to assume his position 74 

Reading character 75 — 78 

L/abor union and capital 79 — 87 

Quick temper 88—89 

The relation of superintendent and foreman.. 90 — 91 

Profanity 92 

Reputation 92—93 

Should a foreman do physical labor 94 — 95 

Foreman should be exempt from control to a 

certain extent 96 — 97 

Investigation 98 — 113 

Conclusion 114 — 115 



PREFACE. 



This book has been prepared to meet the de- 
mands of our fellow workmen. It is not our 
aim to give technical knowledge of mechanical 
construction^ nor any of its devices, but simply 
to give obvious facts pertaining to the govern- 
ment of men, and what is required of men who 
are aspiring to become managers, and those who 
are now in that position. 

This is not a book of methods, although a 
few methods will be found in it. Its aim is 
rather to present, in a brief and compact form, 
such principles as underlie and give form to all 
methods worthy of attention. As the title im- 
plies, the book has been written with special re- 
gard to the needs of foremen and those aspiring 
candidates for the foreman's office. 

Distribution of labor, which characterizes our 
higher civilization, has established a system and 
method to every branch of industry. When work 
is complicated, and assigned to different hands 



10 Preface, 

for its completion, to secure harmonious and 
efficient results, a plan must direct these 
hands, and stimulating these plans must be 
intelligence to supervise and control. When 
efforts secure uniformity, accuracy and har- 
mony in the process of industrial manipula- 
tion, it imparts three-fold value to each man's 
toil. Supervision is not only an absolute neces- 
sity, but is the paramount ideal of labor. 



11 



INTRODUCTION. 



Human society is an organization of govern- 
ment. If there is a law, some one must con- 
struct it ; if there be an execution of power, some 
one must be the executor, and those under its 
reign must abide by its effect. Each one has his 
duty to perform to perfect a stable form of so- 
ciety. We cannot conceive of a state of society 
that would thrive without the co-operation of the 
greater majority. The head of society needs in- 
telligence in order to direct the one who follows, 
for among all societies we find those who are 
willing followers and those who are willing 
leaders. 

Primarily, the object of society is for the 
strong to protect the weak. There is a great 
deal of thought expended fn government and its 
directions, and it is not always estimated at its 
par value. We should estimate the value of a 
man by the work he has performed and his man- 
ner of doing it. We look at the person who ex- 



12 Introduction. 

ercises his physical powers, and try to compare 
him to the person who exercises his mental 
powers, and whether by our inexperience in 
either case, our minds are biased by our own ex- 
perience, and we decide by impression. Our 
worth should be weighed according to our abili- 
ties. Each man at the threshold of his industrial 
career tries to grade out his qualifications and 
apply them to his greatest aptitude, whether to 
become a business man, professional man or a 
trades man. Circumstances, in most cases, com- 
pel his aptitude in certain directions, irrespective 
of his intentions, traditional qualities or special 
attainments. 

Energy will always find a place to ascend, and 
is a staunch companion of thrift. There are al- 
ways two classes in every field of labor; that of 
designing and that of carrying the design into 
execution. 

The doctor who at a glance can prescribe the 
required remedies in a case is far superior to the 
one who, after a lengthy diagnosis, prescribes 
the same remedy. The latter is the natural in- 
ferior in power of mind and execution. 

The highest grade of labor is that which en- 
velops the highest form of energy. The distribu- 



Introduction. 13 

tion of labor, that now qualifies our industry, is 
a mechanical system in itself ; each has his special 
duty to perform, each his fidelity to his co- 
worker. ''Toil,'' says the proverb, ''is the sire 
of fame/' The change in our industrial life to 
the present condition of intense commercialism 
is having great efifect upon our growing genera- 
tion,, which is not generally realized. 

The decrease in the number of those who pro- 
mote and plan for our different industries, and 
the increase in the number of employes, is a con- 
dition of our present life, and this condition is 
molding the public conscience; in fact, the 
greater portion of the people now belong to the 
latter class. 

The career of the local tradesman, in our vil- 
lages, in our towns and in our cities, is practically 
ended. 

The small merchant has become a distributing 
point for larger concerns, the smaller manufac- 
turer is swallowed up in the great combination 
of wealth. The opportunities for independent 
business careers for men which were offered a 
generation ago are now very few. 

The man of to-day expects to be employed by 
some one, rarely ever does he plan to be himself 
an employer. 



14 Introduction. 

The best excuse which the so-called ''captains 
of industry" give for their existence is that ''they 
furnish employment for multitudes/' 

As time goes on the service which foremen and 
mechanics require must be more skillful. Skill 
is the end of habit; habit in this sense is prac- 
tice. This practice does not necessarily involve 
a great deal of mental activity, but simply to do, 
and do well, what is required. 

It is the employer who conceives the purpose 
and who finds the market for the product made. 
The man of skill continues to produce until told 
to stop, or stops himself. 

Men have rights. Daniel Webster says : 
"Labor in this country is independent and proud ; 
it has not to ask the patronage of capital, but 
capital solicits the aid of labor.'' 

Neither the foreman nor the employer, in any 
sense of the word, owns the men. The foreman 
is appointed by the employer to act simply as a 
guide, instructor, for him, and to do his bidding. 

Differing greatly as they do in physical 
strength and mental faculty, all men have the 
right to that help and inspiration which will re- 
move this limitation and enable them to approach, 
as nearly as possible, the greatest degree of use- 
fulness and happiness in living. 



Introduction. 15 

The degree of efficiency of the shop depends 
directly upon the material condition and organ- 
ization, the work to be done, and the manner of 
doing it. Taking the conditions as we find them, 
if the shop has made the most of its opportuni- 
ties it is because the foreman primarily under- 
stands the men and has a profound love and re- 
spect for their lives, because he recognizes a 
course of proceedings, has plans, is able to use 
devices and appropriate suggestions, give to the 
workmen his greatest effort, and finally, has a 
large endowment of what we may term, giving 
the spirit. 

In the statement that the foreman primarily 
must understand the men, the thought is not es- 
pecially one of a scientific or technical man study, 
but rather that concern in the recognition of his 
interest and environments which brings about a 
closer relationship and encourages the spirit of 
co-operation. It is time we were getting after 
the men as well as what we get out of them. 

Intellectual dullness and deviation from moral 
rectitude are often due to some unfortunate 
physical condition, which of itself would scarcely 
attract attention. It is a high degree of economy 
to try and remove these defects instead of mak- 
ing this person a mark of ridicule and disdain. 



16 Introduction. 

The foreman should try to develop the spirit 
in the men to do and do willingly. When interest 
is aroused and the ability of a man used, self is 
abandoned and progress is characteristic. This 
progress brings additional knowledge, a greater 
source of pleasure and an encouraged tendency to 
find out new truth. 

In executing his work, a careful preparation 
of each duty by the foreman secures his greatest 
inspiration, and a gain of power and enthusiasm 
useful to men and foremen alike in all shop work. 
The foreman must have the spirit, the men catch 
it, and they all work together. 

It is the duty of the foreman to measure fully 
up to the standard described by the writer who 
has said, ''That whosoever strives to do his duty 
faithfully is fulfilling the purpose for which he 
was created and building up in himself the prin- 
ciples of a manly character.'' 



17 



GOVERNMENT. 

Government is to control or rule in a state of 
society. Government should be present at all 
times and everywhere, and should only be car- 
ried into effect by those who have a clear concep- 
tion of right and wrong. Then the feeling of those 
governed would never overbalance the scale of 
equity. 

Fickleness in government has no boundaries or 
justice whereby each one has equal rights. 

Our form of civil government has, to a con- 
siderable extent, given to our commercial institu- 
tions a relative prestige to follow. Our legisla- 
tures are given the power to establish laws for 
our natural government. The owners of com- 
mercial industries have an inherent power to 
establish laws to govern their institutions. 

The judicial department has the power to in- 
terpret and apply the law. The superintendents 
of industries give the laws their force and effect. 

The duty of the executive department is to 
execute the law. The foreman's duty is the same 



18 Government 

as the executive department — to see that the laws 
are carried into effect. 

It is certain no shop or factory can be well in- 
structed and good results obtained unless each 
branch performs its duty. 

The necessity of good, thoughtful manage- 
ment becomes apparent when we remember how 
many foremen who have qualified to instruct 
have failed because they were not executors and 
managers. 

One may readily conceive the strength or 
weakness of a foreman by observing the disci- 
pline of the men. If a foreman is wanting in 
firmness, he encourages revolt and negligence. 

The sense of justice is generally found in most 
men if it is shown to them by one who wishes to 
give it 

A shop must be preserved from confusion and 
from those who set a bad example, and an ex- 
ample should be made of those who practice dis- 
order. 

If a foreman can gain obedience by cheerful- 
ness, in most cases it has a better effect. 

These persuasions should be tried before dis- 
missal : First, an implied influence of a moral 
nature; second, advice, warning the evil of its 



Government. 19 

continuance; third, give harder work, less liber- 
ties, be more strict in discipline toward such 
characters, and carry an unsatisfied look in their 
presence; fourth, dismissal. The fourth recom- 
mendation is seldom resorted to, as there is gen- 
erally submission long before that, unless it is a 
man who wishes to be discharged. In many 
cases a foreman can use some of nature's organs 
very effectually. The eyes are great instruments 
to compel obedience when used in an effectual 
manner, as they convey by implication, scorn, 
disdain, pleasure or contentment. The voice is 
also an instrument of government, and when 
used artfully has the power of armies. A well- 
trained voice is the most effective aid in the man- 
agment of men. It should be clear and distinct, 
the words spoken with a falling modulation. 
When a voice of this kind speaks, quality is al- 
ways manifest. True, we are not all equally en- 
dowed with perfect voices, but by practice, if 
there is no serious complaint connected with the 
vocal organs, we can cultivate it to a considerable 

extent. 

A very large part of our shop management 
consists of government, but by no means all of it. 
There is a question asked, ''What right has one 
to be governed and dominated over by another. 



20 Government. 

and be compelled to yield to his will/' which may 
be consistent with good logic. It may be sum- 
med up to this, they who are in authority have 
the right to govern only for the good of those 
governed. 

No form of government should exit, for one 
moment, unless it is for the purpose of giving 
protection to the weak as well as the strong, and 
securing to all their just rights and liberties. 

One who governs should conduct himself as a 
governor, not as a despot whose only ambition 
is to seek an adversary. 

Personal feeling should not intervene between 
good government and its execution. All evi- 
dence should be weighed before bringing in a 
verdict. Do not weigh words for the sake of 
popularity, but for humanity. 

The world is so constituted that the energy of 
one man is the gain of another, and many of 
our greatest blessings come to us through our 
efforts to help others and do justice to all. 

A foreman to govern must be master of the 
situation; his will must be law, and when once 
asserted there should be no question as to its 
enforcement. When he issues an order, he 
should see that it is enforced. If he does not, he 



Government 21 

greatly weakens his power of government. Every 
step backward a foreman takes lessens his power 
of control. 

Not saying if you are in the wrong you must 
not own up to it. If you are wrong and own up 
to it, it is a demonstration of your conception of 
justice. 

Never make an unnecessary show of author- 
ity, for an exhibition of this kind lessens the 
confidence of the men and never leaves any efifect 
of gratitude. 

A foreman should always be quiet and unas- 
suming, for in so doing he carries force and 
efifect. ''When authority is settled and unques- 
tioned, it certainly can afiford to keep quiet." 

A foreman should exhibit his powers of gov- 
ernment as little as possible. While his right 
should never be questioned, he should never ex- 
ercise his power without just cause. 

Ideal government is a blessing to all, and 
growing out of the many principles here laid 
down, will lead us to some practical sugges- 
tions. 

It has become customary for superintendents 
and others connected with shops, to have printed 
a great mass of laws to govern the men, to have 



22 Government. 

them framed and hung on the walls to haunt 
the efforts of every energetic foreman who is 
trying to secure the co-operation and good fel- 
lowship of his men. 

When a rule is manufactured by superintend- 
ents and the laborers are reprimanded or dis- 
missed, if by them the rules are not observed, 
while the foreman goes unpunished for the same 
offense, the author only frames his ingratitude 
for his men. 

Nature always craves that which is forbidden. 
^'Tradition holds that our first mother's sin was 
in violation of a forbidden law.'' 

No man is fit to govern others unless he can 
govern himself, nor is there any government so 
hard to win. A man should control his actions, 
temper, thoughts and his demeanor toward men. 
I do not mean by self control, that one should 
measure every step and weigh every word, but 
he should try to keep himself in position both of 
foreman and laborer. 

Circumstances govern, in a great many in- 
stances, where time is limited and work compli-' 
cated. 

A foreman must not become overbearing and 
expect more from his men than he can do; ex- 



Government. 23 

pect a fair day's work, and in return give a fair 
day's pay. He must not forget that the cause 
of his men is his own. 

Under the head of many obstacles to good 
shop management, we include all those that may 
be said to involve the material conditions. These 
are properly of two kinds, external and internal. 
The former including whatever pertains to the 
conditions of the environments, the latter to in- 
ternal operations. 

Among the obstacles of the former kind must 
be included the unsightly location of the work- 
shop, the construction, the insufficient size, 
crowding the men; rough floors, ill kept and 
dirty; poor tools and crowding of machinery. 
The direct tendency of all this is to produce a 
rough, ill tempered, insubordinate nature, and 
in consequence, the destruction of all human 
control. Only the blindness, that grows out of 
mere greed, can fail to see the baleful influence 
and the pitiable folly of the penny saved econ- 
omy which allows them existence. 

Under the classification of internal manage- 
ment, there is still a more serious complaint. 
One is the unwise distribution of labor, giving 
the governor too many to govern; giving the 
man who toils the lion's share of the work; al- 



24 Government. 

ways finding fault with some, no matter how 
hard they may try, and praising others, no mat- 
ter how Httle they do or try to do. If a man 
is a dihgent worker and does his work right, he 
should receive the credit for it. Let those sur- 
vive who are worthy and competent. 

Before leaving the subject of discipline en- 
tirely is it not proper that some attention be 
given to certain specific schemes sometimes 
devised for its administrations and to the par- 
ticular application of the foregoing principals, 
to those shops and factories whose particular 
wants have not thus far been especially 
noticed in the discussion. It is true that the 
general principals already laid down might 
seem a sufficient guide to the truth in those 
directions, but there are nevertheless points 
of particular importance which may escape 
the notice of the practical foreman, or which, 
if they appear to him, may not be so clearly 
accompanied by their proper solution as to 
prevent doubt and embarrassment. As a fur- 
ther reason for turning the attention in this 
direction at this stage of the discussion, we 
urge that these schemes of discipline and the 
difficulties of the shops and factories referred 
to are nominally related to the vexed question 



Government. 25 

of the ''to be or not to be/' the former indeed 
having their unsuspected or real origin in a 
desire to escape the necessity of using it and 
the whole substantially arising from neglect 
either naturally or merely momental thrown 
in the way of its employment and not infre- 
quently amounting to its practical prohibition 
and these facts in regard to the origin of the 
matter in question and which we believe have 
seldom occurred to our foremen have here a 
peculiar significance and deserve to be kept 
in mind during the progress of the discussion 
since they are to some extent the key to the 
real note of the scheme of discipline now to 
be examined. Of these schemes that of self- 
government comes first in order so far as its 
relation to the fundamental principles of shop 
government is concerned. This scheme has 
already been noticed and its radical errors 
suggested, that it disregards the law of der- 
ivation, has its origin in actual and primitive 
government; that it practically assumes the 
men or women to capacitated for the exercise 
of such functions and sufficiently disposes to 
render obedience and to be entrusted with the 
sovereign power and that it recognizes in the 



26 Gcvcrnvient. 

foreman the right to transfer the performance 
of his own chief duty or important part of it 
to others. That it does nothing of this is 
enough of itself to settle the character of just 
claims. There are, however, other considera- 
tions that prenounce against it. Self-govern- 
ment in the shops and factories must be one 
of two kinds. It must be either informal and 
partial or somewhat sympathetic and com- 
plete, that is — it must be summed up in inci- 
dental and apparent reference of all questions 
and measures to the voice of the shop and 
factories for their decision and execution. Or 
it must attempt some of a formal organization 
of the shops and factories as a body politic 
with the power to detect, decide and perhaps 
even reprimand severely or dismiss the of- 
fender. Now of these two methods it has al- 
ready been seen that the first is practically 
an imposition of the simple faith of the man 
if he exercises one and seeming in all cases a 
real power. The foreman ever influences and 
guides the decision and consequent actions or • 
he stands in readiness to interfere and to coun- 
ter-act the measures of the shop or factory 
whenever they are likely to conflict with his 



Government. 27 

own convictions of justice or necessity. 
Whether such a scheme is really worthy 
of the foreman's own sound judgment or 
whether it is really a particular benevolence 
to the men or women themselves or w^iether 
it can be expected long to work well or to 
accomplish any very important or whether it 
will not be speedily discovered to be abso- 
lutely a mere sham, or will the sober-thinking 
foreman judge for himself. But suppose that 
the second form is the one chosen. How will 
the case stand? To begin with, no such for- 
mal democracy can consistently, except in 
those shops and factories in which the men 
and women are somewhat advanced in apti- 
tude and knowledge without the presence 
among the employes of a certain sound judg- 
ment and manly control the real power and 
actual labor must remain as in the former 
case, with the foreman alone. The whole 
scheme is thus destitute of any true reality 
or popular independence. Should this neces- 
sary restriction of factory government be 
matured it at once decides the question as to 
its general adoptability. Again the work of 
governing which is having to be carried on 



28 Government. 

conjointly with the work of instruction needs 
to be as simple as possible is under this 
scheme closely complicated with much new 
and really cumberous machinery too proper 
largely subject in its notions to the multitude 
and therefore additional perplexing from this 
uncertainty and in need of constant watch and 
control. Now he must be veritable encyclo- 
pedia who can properly sustain himself among 
the many duties and burdens among the 
different classes he has to govern. With 
this new world of schloristic democracy upon 
his shoulders it is certainly confident for us to 
judge and urge that he do this properly and 
proficiently and carry out his scheme of self- 
government as amply able to govern with ac- 
curacy and decision. Still further the natural 
tendency of the scheme must be to prevent em- 
ployes of the nature of true government, to 
lower his conception of the just majesty of 
the law and to lay the foundation for restless- 
ness under other control than that of his own 
will for it is not an error to in any way instill ' 
the idea that government must necessarily 
originate in the will of the governed however 
inferior in capacity, condition or virtue they 



Government. 29 

may be. Can it other than eventually belittle 
government and abase the law? To transfer 
the lawgiver ship from the higher responsibil- 
ity and capacity of the foreman and bring it 
down to the level of an investment to the 
men's sovereignity. Should not he who is 
governed be able to look up with reverence 
to and with faith in authority as enthroned 
in superior power? In some cases wisdom 
and conservativeness, but can he thus look 
up to and believe in himself or in a govern- 
ment thus begotten of and bounded by him- 
self? Now as to the other question that of 
the influence of such schemes in the shop or 
factories to engender future restlessness un- 
der authorative restraint and general insubor- 
dination. We are inclined to the opinion that 
a salutary lesson may be learned from the in- 
terest of our late tremendous struggle to the 
preservation of the national government and 
to its integrity and to the awakening in the 
people of a just sense of vital importance of 
undivided loyalty and reverence or the con- 
situated authority and self-sacrificing obedi- 
ence of the law that governs the universe but 
unless more in whatever shape the scheme of 



30 Government. 

popular self-government of the shops and fac- 
tories be put forward it is subject to other 
practical evils just so far as the details of gov- 
ernment shall impose upon the men their in- 
fluence must be to divert his attention from 
that undivided interest and application neces- 
sary to his best progress. Still further its 
tendency must be to create in him an over 
critical tendency in judging of the proper acts 
of the foreman and from the habit of debating 
matters of general moment in his own mind 
and of expecting to have a choice as to their 
decision to induce in his a disposition to be 
dissatisfied that even the conclusion reached 
through the general sufferage of body politic. 
Everyone knows how easy a question quickly 
decided at once by the proper authority be- 
comes when thrown open for general discus- 
sion and the proper decision rendered, hence the 
weakness and folly of foremen who are ever ready 
to resort to the general sentiment of their 
men and others for the decision of matters of 
real importance. 

Closely related to the scheme of self-gov- 
ernment is the personal accounting plan. The 
partial scheme employed generally in combin- 



Government 31 

ation with some other fancied system of dis- 
cipline such as that of popular sovereignity 
or that of demerit marks. It differs from the 
former scheme in that it devolves upon the 
men not so much of the prerogatives of legis- 
lation as that of self-government. Its marked 
feature is that which allows or requires men 
to report to the foreman the measure of their 
own merit or demerit according to their own 
judgment. It sometimes even goes to the 
ridiculous extreme of devolving upon him the 
determination of reward. Now the foreman 
may in his private conferences with the man 
endeavor to draw from him his views of his 
own merit or demerit not at all as a basis of 
judgment but only to know if his views are 
cusing. Or if he has judged improperly that 
his own reason and conscience are to have a 
voice with regard to his own conduct and 
construction of work, either accusing or ex- 
cusing. Of if he has judged improperly that 
the foreman may be able to show him his 
error and thus enlighten and guide him in his 
apprehension of truth and convictions of the 
reward. So to as merely an incidental act, if 
at all, as a matter of regular and frequent oc- 



32 Government. 

curance a foreman may when he knows the 
precise facts of the case even publicly call for 
a man's opinion as to his own effort or be- 
havior not that this opinion may serve in any 
particular as a basis for his own judgment in 
the premises, but that by correcting this error 
kindly and without personal reference he may 
impress upon the shop or factory their liability 
to misjudge both as to the character of his 
own conduct and that of others and the provi- 
sions of his government and may thus give 
them good instructions of a most practical and 
important nature. But employed in any other 
way or pursued to any extent as a part of a 
scheme of discipline the matter in considera- 
tion is stupidly, ingeniously and transparently 
vicious for first if this question of the em- 
ploye as to his merit or dismerit is sought as 
a basis for the foreman's judgment the thing 
is false in its first principal as the ruler in the 
shops or factories knowing what to estab- 
lish as law, what are you next to know but 
when, where and how to apply discipline for' 
the support of law, to read the man's char- 
acter, to discover his merits, to detect his mis- 
deameanors and to devine the proper names 



Government 33 

for stimulous energeticness. This is the fore- 
man's art of governing most express and ad- 
mirable. As such, we hold that he has no 
right to throw it upon his men either in earn- 
est or in mere pretense. If he does the former 
he impeaches his own capacity of faithfulness, 
if he does the latter he imposes upon the faith 
of those under him. In the second case, the 
direct benefit of this species of practice is to 
blunt the normal sense of the men and to in- 
duce deception and falsehood, and it is of no 
avail to argue the contrary. Let the employes 
suppose that you do in any part rest upon his 
decision and how powerful is the stimulous to 
make out a fair case for himself even though 
at the ultimate expense of the truth. Even 
though he may start and for a time continue 
to do an honest day's work and be honest in 
his designs, how long under such will he 
be able to retain a keen sense of the difference 
between exact conditions and truth and self- 
governing and self-interested misrepresenta- 
tion of actual existing facts? Go beyond the 
shops and factories and apply the same prac- 
tice to every person or persons in our courts 
of justice and how long will it be before every 



34 Government. 

honest man would be compelled to exclaim 
to the degree of horror and remorse to the 
atrocity of the ungratefulness towards our 
fellow beings. It is to be supposed the brain- 
less man who does not discriminate between 
right and wrong as between good and evil will 
be proof against temptation thus thrown in his 
way. We may say to the foreman with the 
profoundest feeling that before you call on the 
men to report against themselves here that you 
first soberly repeat to yourself the prayer 
''Do unto others as you would have them do unto 
you.'' In the third place there is another evil 
incident to the use of this scheme, if not cer- 
tain to accompany it. Supposing that the 
foreman by making use of the employes as a 
reporting system does not accept it with quali- 
fications as a basis of judgment or correction 
of his own knowledge see the trust of the first 
act supplanted by the distrust of the second 
and how long will it be before the employe 
will penetrate into the secret of your strategy? 
But you may depend upon it that just as soon^ 
as he becomes satisfied that you go back of 
his entrusted word for the trusted facts, the 
fair fabric of your whole scheme will dissolve 



Government 35 

like the frail frostwork of the night before 
the morning sun, and what is worse, that it 
will banish the employes' better estimate of 
your character as worthy of his admiration 
and confidence. The fact is in dealing with 
man's truth, it is of more distinct and vital 
importance than it may be at first given actual 
credit for. 



36 



VISITING OTHER SHOPS. 

It is advisable for a foreman to visit other 
shops to find out what is going on, how they 
do their work, what advantages they have over 
other systems, the manner they have of visiting 
their men, the class of men they employ, the 
wages they pay, the amount of work they turn 
out, how the foreman conducts himself in the 
presence of the men, and what kind of a superin- 
tendent they have in charge. This "will give him 
an idea of whether he is up to the standard in his 
own shop, and is a great instruction to him in 
solving some device that will greatly economize 
his system. Many would be helped out in this 
way where books on instruction and mechanical 
devices would be studied for weeks with no real 
benefit. 

Observation is the most productive way of get- 
ting forms and constructions thoroughly fixed in 
the mind. 



Steadiness. 37 

CONSERVATISM. 
A great many times a foreman is placed in a 
position where many temptations continually 
arise and is aggravated to such an extent that he 
is nearly on the point of violence. For example, 
when he cannot reason with his men or they be- 
come obstinate, or fault is continually being 
found with his work by those above him, they, 
seemingly, never satisfied with what he does, no 
matter how he tries to please. This is only some 
of the conditions a foreman must get accustomed 
to, and he must only accept it for what it is worth 
and never try to sell for more than he paid. 



STEADINESS. 

Few principles are more productive of uni- 
form and orderly action among men than that of 
invariable uniformity of nature. As the river 
will not flow up hill, we must be content to let 
it flow down. 

Nature will not change, hence man conforms 
to nature. The regularity of nature begets regu- 
larity in men. 

In the shop, the inflexible steadiness of the 
management creates among men unwavering 



38 Consoling, 

faith in the certainty of results and a fixed con- 
viction of the necessity of conformity to the con- 
sequent condition of things. Thus we get habit, 
and habit is self-controlHng. Hence steadiness 
itself is power. 



CONSOLING. 

Many times in a man's life he feels as though 
he had been a failure, especially when he is striv- 
ing to accomplish what seems to him a most diffi- 
cult problem. He will worry and brood over his 
work until his every effort seems almost ex- 
hausted. 

This is a pecularity of some men that cannot 
be overcome, and it is almost impossible for them 
to accomplish much while in this condition. 
A foreman can, in a great many instances, lessen 
this man's burden by telling him a good joke or 
story. This will, in most instances, have the de- 
sired effect and leave the man in better humor 
and he will be prepared to do his work. 



39 



THOUGHTFULNESS. 

A foreman should always be honest with his 
men, truthful in every respect, he will then realize 
he is to be relied upon in all his dealings. He 
should never construct his sentences so they will 
have two interpretations, one for the men and one 
for himself — for this will have a tendency to les- 
sen the confidence the men have in him, and a 
construction of that kind is purely a falsehood, 
they are words spoken to deceive. A lie is an 
intentional violation of the truth, or a construc- 
tion of words told to deceive. To deceive by ac- 
tion, silence, cough, laughter or expressions of 
the face is just as immoral as though conveyed 
by words. 

A lie may be told by uttering only a portion of 
the truth and retaining those facts which are 
most essential to convey the true circumstance^. 
Again, it may be possible to overstate the truth 
by adding to that which is perfectly true. 



40 

MEMORY. 

Memory is one of the greatest factors in de- 
veloping the faculties of learning. The man who 
is endowed with memory can easily find the many 
avenues of success, if his mental powers are put 
to use. 

One, who can use his faculties in acquiring 
knowledge in thinking and expressing his 
thoughts, is termed ''educated." 

' Everyone should learn to employ his power to 
the best advantage and cultivate where is his 
greatest weakness. Whenever we develop our 
strength in some one particular source, it invig- 
orates and strengthens some weaker portion. 



41 



DUTY THE FOREMAN OWES TO HIS 

MEN. 

How many think, 'Tf I was only foreman how 
I would get out the work." It is a great mistake 
to think this, if he does not well bear in mind all 
that is required of him, should he assume that 
position. It is true, illiterate and non-mechanics 
have been given this position by some one no 
better than they. This class always wish every- 
thing to be equal, but being a good foreman is 
like any other profession, it requires knowledge 
and practical experience. Both are necessary, for 
with his practical experience he has the art of 
his profession, and by having the knowledge 
he has the key to its technicalities, thus having 
both, one stimulates the other, and they work 
contemporaneously. 

Moral and forgiving developments must not 
be overlooked, for these qualities come into use 
very often. 

We know that man is a member of society, 
what we call his virtues are chiefly exhibited in 



42 Giving Work To Nezv Men. 

his dealings with his associates. Thus it is a 
paradox to maintain, that man's highest good 
is independent of his social relations. Again, it 
would be generally admitted that a foreman 
ought to aim at promoting the well-being of his 
men. 

A great fault with some of our foremen is, they 
do not try to impress good fellowship, but simply 
imply from their actions they do not care as long 
as they get the work out. This takes away the 
interest of the men, and has the tendency to de- 
moralize. We so often see the evil of disrespect 
and its undesired results. 



GIVING WORK TO NEW MEN. 

A foreman, in many instances, makes some 
very costly mistakes by placing new men on diffi- 
cult classes of work. For instance, a man is 
employed as a first-class mechanic, he, perhaps, 
believing himself to be such, starts on a piece 
of work that requires some knowledge outside of 
the ordinary, to perfect. He works to a great 
disadvantage because he is doubtful of its per- 
fection when completed. He is also placed un- 
der unfavorable conditions on account of his not 



Taking Advantage Of Work. 43 

knowing where the proper utensils are for the 
task. In a great many instances he will com- 
plete the work unsatisfactorily. This is only one 
instance of many, that could be argued in be- 
half of giving a new man work that is not of 
such great importance, but work that will show 
his mechanical abilities from the start. 

In shops where it is convenient, it is not a bad 
practice for the foreman to have special work 
whereby the ability of mechanics is shown al- 
most in his first hours of work. By doing this 
he will not only have a fair conception of his 
ability as a mechanic, but he will be saving the 
company money, by not keeping him for a great 
length of time, nor have him labor on work 
which, sometimes, money will not replace. 



TAKING ADVANTAGE OF WORK. 

Majority of men in this respect use but little 
judgment, and in many instances they make an 
easy class of work a very hard task. The fore- 
man many times is very dilatory in correcting 
this fault. For instance, work which has to be 
done in a crouched position while standing, 
would be much easier for the workman if he 



44 Beginning. 

were allowed to be seated. It is useless to say, 
but nevertheless this fact should not be lost sight 
of, that better results may be obtained from a 
man who is spirited, fresh and full of energy, 
than from a man who has worked himself down 
and exhausted his strength. There are many 
foremen whose greatest desire is to see men la- 
boring hard, and putting forth every ounce of 
energy they possess, regardless of what is be- 
ing accomplished. 



BEGINNING. 



The beginning in a shop, in many instances, is 
what forms the impression of the foreman's 
worth in the minds of his employer and the men. 
New work, new faces and new surroundings 
have a great tendency to create nervousness, and 
he will do things that he, most likely, will re- 
gret, unless he is quite careful. He must not 
forget that while he is sizing up the men, they 
are weighing and measuring his every move, try- 
ing to discover some defect in his make-up, or 
his mechanical abilities and if any of these or 
other qualities are observed to his discredit, it 
will become an issue in the platform of shop 



Beginning, 45 

talk. It behooves a foreman to try to form as 
good an impression as possible. When he enters 
into a new position he will find it very difficult 
to restore that which he should have begun well. 
Thoughts should precede every action, and jus- 
tice every word. 

Beginning of a foreman's work is what is al- 
ways most difficult and costly, but ''ready to be- 
gin is the task almost won,'' for if a man has not 
familiarized himself with the qualifications that 
are necessary for his profession, he will contin- 
ually find himself in trouble, and this is very em- 
barrassing to a new foreman. Some beginners 
are shrewd enough not to say very much until 
they have learned the profession, but this is an 
imposition on an employer or those who think 
him worthy of his position. I do not wish it to be 
understood that a man should assume the posi- 
tion of foreman, and the first day perform the 
same duties that one in the position would who 
has had it for years. I do say, a man who has 
taken the position as a foreman should be a thor- 
ough tradesman in the line of business he is to 
follow, and has given some time to the study of 
the management of men and the practice of 
economy. 



46 



REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD ME- 
CHANIC. 

A man, to be a good mechanic and valuable to 
his employer, should first have good fundamental 
principles to work upon. He should have served 
his time as an apprentice. He should exercise 
his physical and mental abilities in performing 
his work. He should be punctual in getting to 
his work and be there every day that is possible. 
He should take his time, and complete his work 
well, for there is nothing gained by doing a 
piece of work hastily, for what is gained by 
straining the physical powers is lost two fold 
when they become exhausted. The man who has 
a good, steady gait all day, will by far ac- 
complish the most. No great laurels are be- 
stowed upon one who can complete a piece of 
work quicker than his neighbor, but too much 
cannot be said of the man who can do his work 
so it can be relied upon. On every occasion 
good workmen and good foremen are seldom 
seen together, there is no necessity for it. Good 
workmen and poor foremen are most always 
good conversationalists. 



47 



HABIT. 

After all we are but creatures of habit. How 
important, then, it is that in the formative period 
of foremanship one should form correct habits, 
economize time, let no man find him idle, take 
pride in his work, always keep his office clean 
and his papers in their proper place. If he has 
drawings, classify them so that he may instantly 
place his hand on the one he wants and not have 
a lot of unnecessary rubbish in his way on the 
floor. When a man asks him for a job, not cut 
him off with the short "no.'' This is like the 
story of a man who went into a shop and asked 
the foreman if he wanted a carpenter to-day. 
The foreman said "No, no,'' without looking at 
him. The man meekly said: "Will you please 
let me stay in town over night ?" "What do you 
ask this question for?" doggedly asked this hon- 
orable man. "I thought may be you would ob- 
ject as your manner implies that I should im- 
mediately get ofif the earth." "Come around in 
the morning and I will give you a position." A 
man once said "He knew only one thing, and 
that was his ignorance." 



48 



COMMANDING APPEARANCE. 

A foreman should have a neat, business-Hke 
appearance, dress comfortably and neatly. A 
great deal more respect is shown to one who is 
so dressed. Dress does not only give him a 
commanding appearance, but is one of the prom- 
inent indications of character. It gives birth to 
honor and respect among his men that would 
not be characterized otherwise. The great men 
who have commanded men in time of peace, and 
armies in time of war, with success, we find, 
were men of a commanding appearance, sincere 
in their work, never showing any great anxiety, 
but always cool and collected. 



49 



SELF-CONTROL. 

Self-control is the first requisite to success in 
the management of men. The work of govern- 
ing men requires government of one's self. Men, 
as a general rule, are very quick to observe the 
degree of control maintained by a foreman. 
Guided by their own observations they quietly 
submit to be governed only in so far as they 
recognize the elements of governing power ex- 
hibited by the foreman. Any looseness in the 
exercise of control, or want of observation, is 
generally taken advantage of by the men. Gov- 
ernment should be a reign of justice, equal 
rights and privileges for all. This should be the 
"preamble" of our constitution. It is no easy 
matter to exercise self control over our thoughts 
and actions under all conditions, but if we ac- 
quire the habit of taking things easily and re- 
flecting, we will never be self-conscious. 



50 

SELF-POSSESSION. 
No greater power can be exhibited by man 
than self possession in time of trouble; to know 
just what to do, what to say, and do it, and say 
it, as you would in time of peace. It is written 
"And through the heat of conflict, keep the law 
in calmness made, and see what he foresaw." 
Persons who become angered easily usually 
speak in a high key. How greatly our people 
differ in temperament. Some are very hasty 
and become excited at the least agitation, and 
say things and do things that they regret for 
many a long day. To be self possessed is to be 
cool and collected, never talk faster than in an 
ordinary conversation, and do not turn or look 
about quickly, but let your movements be grace- 
ful and honest. 



51 



REFORM. 

It seems the ambition of some foremen is to 
be always contemplating some reform, or new 
scheme, without considering the cost, and what 
good may result from it; just so long as some- 
thing is on foot that is new. This is a very good 
characteristic in a foreman if he uses proper 
judgment in producing it, but all wrong if he 
simply has a mania for something to stimulate 
his anxiety to see what can be done. A reform, 
if a good one, is all right, but it should be a 
gradual growth and not a sudden change, then 
its cost can be considered and it will not be revo- 
lutionary in its character. Our history tells us 
that it v/as over fifty years before the constitu- 
tion could be submitted to the people, they ever 
envious of tyrant's rule, would never have given 
the right construction on it if submitted to them 
as a whole. So it is with reforms in shops. A 
foreman should be conservative and feel his 
way before he introduces any new reforms. 



52 



THE APPRENTICE. 

Each man before he starts out in life selects 
some trade, profession or business to follow as 
his work. Apprentices or crafts is what we here 
wish to take up. An apprentice should thor- 
oughly consider whether he is qualified for the 
trade he is to follow, for it is a matter of great 
importance to him in after life, when there is de- 
pendent upon him a heavier burden. 

When a trade or business is chosen that does 
not require any thought or practice, it should 
never be followed. If he wishes to become in- 
dependent he must secure a trade that has its 
technicalities^ its difficulties, and become master 
of them. 

One of the reasons why an apprentice does not 
like to serve his apprenticeship is he does not 
like to be bound to a master for a term of years, 
thinking it will restrain his liberty or mar his 
happiness. 

Cooper says : ''Calamities that seem insupport- 
able when looked at from a distance, lose half 
their power if met and resisted with fortitude." 



The Apprentice. 63 

It is a great temptation to a young man who 
is starting out in life to choose between two 
classes, the unskilled instead of the skilled. The 
unskilled young man may fill the first day and 
demand full pay for his services. 

It is true that the man with no trade has to 
meet the world of labor in competition. As soon 
as the foreigner places his foot on our soil he is 
a competitor; the mechanic, when he finds no 
work at his trade, is also a competitor, and so on, 
in all cases among our human family, men will, 
in time of depression, crowd each other down to 
gain their subsistence. 

In building, we should build as though it were 
going to last forever. Have a good foundation 
to support a good superstructure. Just so with 
apprentices; they should get thoroughly all the 
elementary principles before they try to reach the 
loftier heights. We urge that an apprentice 
should be an active worker and a student of his 
profession, in order that he may become a pro- 
ficient master of his trade in after years. 

The relation of the foreman and the apprentice 
should be like that of father and son. The fore- 
man should use his influence to make the appren- 
tice not only a good mechanic, but build in him 



54 The Apprentice. 

a manly character and make him an earnest 
worker. 

Habit is very easily formed among young 
men, and it is only by the ever watching eyes of 
the parents or foreman that this can be overcome. 
Habits that are generally visible to the searcher 
are slackness, not taking any pains with the 
work, untidy, coming late to work, neglecting his 
work, shirking, etc. These bad habits, if not cor- 
rected, tend to make him an unproficient me- 
chanic before he has completed his trade. 

When the apprentice has worked at his trade 
for some time, the foreman should observe from 
his aptness whether he will make a mechanic, and 
if he will not, it is an imposition upon this young 
man, a dishonor to the foreman, and a deception 
to the employer, not to dismiss him from the 
service. He perhaps has a greater fort in some 
other profession that, in after years, will be a 
source of greater success and happiness. 

In every trade and profession men may be 
counted by the score — yes, thousands — who are 
not and never will be proficient. Had they pa-" 
tiently learned the mysteries of their craft by 
years of discipline under competent masters, 
their success would have been certain. 



55 



LEVITY. 

To a certain extent it is not advisable to notice 
every misdemeanor that takes place among men, 
for if you have a reprimand for every little 
offense it soon becomes an old story, and they 
accept it as a farce instead of a reproof. But 
when the occasion presents itself and you think 
the guilty deserving, make yourself known to be 
remembered. It is very annoying to employes to 
have in their midst some one who is continually 
tormenting some old man, or some one who is a 
little unbalanced; they seem to enjoy picking at 
some one all day long. This sort of thing should 
be subdued as much as possible, for many have 
been severely injured by its practice. 

To take notice of every disorder gives one the 
name of a common scold, but to give reproof to 
the deserving gives one respect. Do not take an- 
other man's word for misdemeanors. Do not go 
off in some dark corner to discover them, or 
sneak around, but act honestly, and have your 
own evidence to produce in an argument when 
giving reproof. 



66 The Meetings Of Foremen. 

MANNERS. 
Good manners is that quality which inspires 
and awakens the very influence. It venerates 
the judge on the bench, the actor on the stage 
and the orator on the platform. It speaks a lan- 
guage that no tongue can express and its majesty 
is a governor of men. 



THE MEETINGS OF FOREMEN. 

The theory of shop supervision to which this 
treatise is designed requires the managers to 
work upon the shops through the foremen. They 
should, to a certain extent, prepare plans of work 
and discipline which should be submitted to the 
foremen at their meetings and discussed by them. 
The working out of such schemes requires con- 
stant oversight and constant readjustment. 
Hence arises the necessity of conference, instruc- 
tions in methods and correction of errors. 

At stated periods meetings should be held for 
instructions in all departments of practical shop 
work, and to this there should be added, as occa-' 
sion admits, instructions in principles which 
underlie successful practice, that foremen become 
intelligent and independent co-laborers. 



Monotonous Work. 57 

Foremen's meetings are the only known means 
of giving harmony and proper efficiency to a 
system, of how to do work. That unity of pur- 
pose and of method which is indispensable to 
success can be communicated in no other man- 
ner, nor is there any other way of giving due 
prominence to that spirit which should animate 
a body of foremen, for communion of thought is 
the art of perfecting good government. 



MONOTONOUS WORK. 

Monotonous work, like a rainy day, sheds 
glooms over vitals and makes life a long, burden- 
some, weary journey. It is true some men like 
work with no changes. This class of men are not 
energetic nor enterprising, but simply live to see 
the day go by and another dawn. This is not 
true of a person who is inspired to become better 
versed or familiar with the different kinds of 
work. To keep this class of men interested it is 
necessary to give them a variety of work, for if 
you do not you will find them the most miserable 
of men. A foreman must not act partially, but 
divide the work so that each one has a certain 
amount of rough and a certain amount of good 
work. Whenever you find a man lounging 



58 Monotonous Work. 

around, give him a difficult piece of work, where 
he will have to exercise his mental faculties. 
Whenever a man has had a hard piece of work, 
do not burden him with more of the same kind 
when he has it completed, but give him some 
piece of work that is easier, in order to restore 
his integrity and interest. 



59 



ASPIRING FOREMEN. 

Most men are ambitious to become foremen to 
get more money and to be in a position where 
they will be looked up to by some one else. This 
is the disposition of man. Before one should at- 
tain the position of foreman he should be en- 
dowed with at least two qualifications. He should 
be a fair spholar and a man. With these two en- 
dowments he is qualified to assume any position 
that can be bestowed upon man. It is very dis- 
heartening to men to have placed over them a 
foreman who is void of these two qualifications. 
A large proportion of them, perhaps a majority, 
have made less preparation for their w^ork than 
if they w^ere to become section hands. This state 
of things exists because those who have the 
power to place them there allow it to exist. 
Superintendents and those who place foremen 
will, when they want a pair of shoes mended or 
a suit of clothes made, make application to the 
most competent of workmen ; then he knows his 
shoes will be mended satisfactorily and his 
clothes made to fit. But when it comes to an 



60 Aspiring Foremen. 

appointment of a foreman, where thousands of 
dollars' worth of work are dependent upon him, 
he will select one who has made no preparation 
and who is perhaps not adapted for that work in 
any particular. This is a mystery that can only 
be explained by supposing that such people do 
not realize the fact that preparation for a foreman 
needs to be made and can be made as well as for 
any other profession. An unskilled man at a 
forge, making some mechanical device, will 
spend more time, use more coal and waste more 
material in one day than an apprentice-served 
blacksmith will waste in one hour, and when the 
work of the latter is completed it can be de- 
pended upon. Just so with an unskilled foreman, 
who never has given government, construction 
nor any matters pertaining to the profession one 
single thought. He is placed in the position only 
to be a drug on the market of the company. 
What a pity the waste of these incompetent 
foremen does not come out of the pockets of the 
superintendents! If so, how much more care 
they would have in their selection. 

A person who is striving to become a foreman 
should have a fair education and have the man- 
hood to go with it, for if either of these qualities 
are absent his career as a foreman will not be a 



Aspiring Foremen. 61 

success. He should not say his work is finished 
after the expiration of his day's physical employ- 
ment for some one else, but say it has just begun, 
and sit down and study some good works on con- 
struction of devices and construction of thought. 

It is written: ''The soul of the sluggard de- 
sireth, and has nothing; but the soul of the dili- 
gent shall be made fat." 

A man should keep himself posted as much as 
possible on the work, the time it takes to com- 
plete a piece of work ; be familiar with his neigh- 
bor's work as well as his own ; learn how to take 
advantage in getting work out cheaply; the dis- 
position and character of men; take a great in- 
terest in all he does and do it well, and have well 
in mind what he is going to do before starting; 
then he will not be apt to make mistakes. Sug- 
gestions by him to the foreman are not out of 
place, for it shows him he takes an interest in his 
work. He must not boast or try to set himself 
forward, but be modest and unassuming at all 
times, always composed. Let the foreman know 
he understands how to do his work and how to 
do it well, showing him he is master of the situa- 
tion. He must keep himself and the surround- 
ings neat and clean, have due respect for himself 



62 Aspiring Foremen. 

and all his fellow workmen. He must not be 
afraid to speak to his employer, superintendent 
nor any one else, must not ignore those who are 
not so fortunate as himself, for this is a display 
of fickleness, and only imparts what he would 
do if he were in power. 

Kindness, conservatism and sympathy are the 
most beautiful flowers of a man's character. Be- 
ing a gentleman in the presence of a judge does 
not bring a man in disrepute among his fellows. 

It was told of Lincoln that he was walking 
down the road with a gentleman of nobility when 
they met a negro, who took off his hat and said, 
*'Good morning, Massa Lincoln." Mr. Lincoln 
took off his hat and said, ''Good morning, my 
friend." The nobility then said to Mr. Lincoln, 
"Do you speak to those people?" Mr. Lincoln 
said, 'T allow no man to be more of a gentleman 
than myself." 

Being a gentleman on all occasions will never 
bring a man in ill-repute, and it places him on 
good terms with all. 

A man must not let a day pass without having 
made an improvement on his mind, or setting 
aside a certain time for study. Constant energy^ 
is what will make him a successful man. He 



Aspiring Foremen. 63 

must not read a book for the sake of reading, 
but thoroughly digest all its contents. Do not 
smoke, chew or eat while stud3dng, as the mind 
and attention are upon the comfort as much as on 
the work. 

It is written that 'Where the storm beats the 
most violent the toughest trees survive/' Those 
who have had a hard and rugged road to climb 
will be rewarded tenfold, for they have the 
stamina and solidness that goes to make a man. 

Never fear you will not reap reward; do not 
lose the opportunity when it comes. Do not 
envy others because they have been successful 
while your efforts have been without avail. By 
the story of the fox and the raven it is shown 
how ingenuity avails and how wisdom is an over- 
match for strength. 



64 



NUMBER OF MEN FOR FOREMEN. 

Complaint is often entered, perhaps justly, of 
the number of men a foreman has under his 
supervision. Common sense teaches us that a 
foreman who has a small force to govern will 
attain better results than if he had again as many, 
because he can devote more of his time and at- 
tention to each man and his work. Here, too, is 
the necessity of controlling power to quell the 
restless and move the idle. Here the knowledge 
of character of each individual, his quantity and 
quality, his aptness, his results, his failings and 
inaptitude; these cannot be taken advantage of 
as well if there are too many. Again, the time 
given the foreman to prepare his work and de- 
velop it into its order, so there will be no delay 
in some particular part to hold back that which 
should be completed. 

There is some confliction about the real num- 
ber of men a foreman should superintend (and it 
depends greatly on the class of work that is being 



Number Of Men For Foremen. 65 

done), but from best authority, in no instance 
should the number exceed thirty-five. This num- 
ber is not burdensome to the foreman and will 
give him ample time to study economy. 



66 



FOREMEN SHOULD BE GIVEN A GREAT 
DEAL OF CONSIDERATION. 

All means that are legitimate should be em- 
ployed to make a foreman's situation agreeable. 
At the very least they are exposed to many an- 
noyances incident to their calling, and it is an 
imposition to add others which are avoidable. 

Foremen should not be treated as tools, to be 
used one minute and laid aside another; nor as 
hirelings of a day, liable to be displaced without 
warning; but they should feel that their position 
is safe as long as their services are efficient. 

Foremen, by their efficient work, should be 
hired by the year, under a contract, as they are 
then spared the anxieties and uncertainties of 
fickleness, which is characteristic m some man- 
agers and superintendents. 

Many times the superintendent expects more 
from a foreman than it is possible to do, and in 
many instances where these conditions exist the 
superintendent is not versed in the work. This 



Foremen Should Be Given a Great Deal 67 
Of Consideration. 

makes it very difficult for the foreman, as the 
superintendent does not want to give in, because 
it would show ignorance. 

In a great many shops and factories the super- 
intendent interferes too much with the business 
of the foreman. This places the foreman in a 
very embarrassing position. For instance, the 
foreman gives a man a job to do, and comes in 
a short time to find him doing another, given by 
the superintendent or some other official. This 
ought to be eliminated, for it takes away the 
power of the foreman to govern his men, and is 
a great disadvantage in getting out the work in 
its order. Under these conditions the foreman is 
simply a tool, and it would not be out of place for 
him to banish some of his conservatism and give 
those who interfere to understand their place. 

It is right that a superintendent should take 
interest in the work of the shop or factory, and 
at lengthy intervals visit the shop and suggest 
improvement ; but to make a practice of standing 
around and watching all day is not becoming in 
a man of that position. It goes to show he does 
not trust the men under him, which is sufficient 
in itself to take away all interest a foreman has 
in his work. 



68 



SANITARY CONDITIONS. 

There is nothing more essential to foremen of 
workshops and factories, especially foremen who 
are trying to make a record for themselves, than 
that of giving a great deal of their attention to 
sanitary conditions of their establishments, such 
as light, heat, ventilation and cleanliness. A 
poorly lighted factory gives it many bad effects. 
A workman or mechanic who is striving hard to 
perfect a piece of difficult work ofttimes allows 
it to be finished in a crude and imperfect manner 
because his place for working is so poorly lighted 
that he is unable to see properly. Light has 
many effectual qualities ; not only does it apply to 
the workman in aiding him to perform his work 
properly, but a well-lighted shop inspires the 
workmen to feel brighter, and creates a cheerful 
mind, stimulates their energy and invariably you 
will find them more ambitious. 

In a poorly lighted factory you will find the 
workmen just the reverse; they become drowsy, 
indifferent in their work, and ofttimes you will 



Sanitary Conditions. 69 

find them secluded in a dark corner, where they 
feel in safety, at their own pleasure. 

Heat should also be taken into consideration. 
A shop should never be so poorly heated as to 
cause the men to feel uncomfortable, for just as 
soon as the thoughts of being cold or uncom- 
fortable enters the minds of the men, just that 
soon do they take a certain per cent of their at- 
tention from their work. Many other good rea- 
sons could be offered for having the different 
apartments properly heated. 

It is not to the best interest of any corporation 
or company to have in their employ men whose 
services they cannot depend upon day after day. 
The greater part of time lost by workmen on cer- 
tain classes of work is from ill-health, contracted 
in a poorly heated establishment, or where there 
is no system of ventilation and the sanitary con- 
ditions have been badly neglected. Therefore, 
it is of great importance to foremen to institute 
in shops such conditions as will help to preserve 
the health of their men. 

Foremen taking up new positions can in no 
other way make a better showing and elevate 
themselves in the eyes of the company, and win 
the admiration and respect of those working 



70 Pay For Foremen, 

under their supervision, than by giving their at- 
tention to the sanitary conditions of the property 
of which they are in charge. 



PAY FOR FOREMEN. 

Of all the scientific men the foremen of shops 
receive the least pay for their services. They 
have to shoulder all the responsibility and in- 
gratitude, and receive only a fractional part of 
their true value for their work. There are peo- 
ple who are always ready to declare that his only 
motive is money, and it is degrading to let money 
weigh his services. But these people need watch- 
ing. We should not set money up as an ideal 
and cherish it to the extreme. But a sufficient 
amount should be given for services to warrant a 
furthering of the interests of the institution. 
This is a good, reasonable motive why a fore- 
man should regard his pecuniary compensation 
as proper, and insist that a reasonable amount 
should be given him for his services. 

The foreman has wants which are impossible 
to supply, and very few can work for nothing, 
even if others think he is getting enough ; and it 



Pay For Foremen. 71 

is no more than justice that those who are bene* 
ted by his services and thrive on his produce 
should be grateful givers. As a rule, people do 
not value ''that which costs them nothing.'^ 



72 



FIRST DAY'S WORK. 

Never judge a man by his first day's work, for 
in a great many instances he is handicapped by 
the strangeness of his surroundings and the dif- 
ferent class of work. 

I recite an instance of a man who hired out in 
a shop as a first-class mechanic, and he was 
known to several of the men as such. The fore- 
man gave him a piece of work to do about eight 
o'clock in the morning ; the time given was about 
three hours. It took him about ten hours to spoil 
this job, and the foreman would have discharged 
him, onl}^ for the plea entered by some of the 
men. But in three days' time this man demon- 
strated to his foreman that he was excelled by 
no man in his line of business. He simply said 
he was nervous and unstrung, and that he was 
almost ashamed to go back to work the following 
day. This simply illustrates what can happen to 
a man at times in his life. He will have certain 
days and times when everything seems to be ad- 
verse to his efforts. 



Idleness. 73 

It is generally accepted that a man's true worth, 
as a mechanic, cannot be demonstrated in one or 
two days, unless he is a complete failure. 



IDLENESS. 



The habit of idleness is a most powerful enemy 
to those who work for some one else. I mean 
here to allude to idleness which precludes every 
hope; idleness which steals upon a man by de- 
grees and seems to take him unawares, and takes 
from him the power to become successful. He 
has taken up a trade and that is the work he is 
to perform, his attention should be drawn to it 
while performing its functions. He should not 
refuse to do his duty and in the end gain his re- 
ward. If he shirks, he is only weakening him- 
self, mentally and physically and deadening his 
ambition for that in which he wishes to become 
proficient. 



74 



ALLOWING OTHERS TO ASSUME HIS 
POSITION. 

Never allow anyone to assume charge of your 
position, nor allow any of your men too much 
liberty with your affairs, for although he may 
perform the task required of him, he will, by de- 
grees, be ever grasping for opportunities for an- 
other chance, and by your liberality you may give 
him another chance until he has perhaps taken 
full jurisdiction and you will become an absolute 
failure and he will take your position or get you 
discharged. You will find it is contrary to the 
functions of management to ever court the ideas 
of, or depending on, some one else to do your 
work, for there has been more discord and dis- 
satisfaction from this, than any other source of 
management. We should strive to think and act 
for ourselves. 



75 



READING CHARACTER. 

Our impression of a man and his behavior, 
sometimes, is what gives us his true character. 
Goethe says, ^'Reading characters of men, be- 
havior is a mirror in which every one displays his 
image." 

When a stranger comes before you, your first 
thoughts are, what is his character, and on ex- 
amination you observe the general outlines of his 
face, his mode of dress, his correctness of speech 
and his pride. When left alone you may dis- 
cern how he conducts himself, how he acts while 
thinking, what attention he pays to what you 
have to say, etc. 

On entering a shop and examining the faces of 
the men, we are unconsciously drawn by some 
and repelled by others. What makes the differ- 
ence? Looking at one you see a pleasant face, 
seemingly satisfied with himself and his environ- 
ments. There is one with the display of intelli- 
gence on his face, he generally is energetic and 
striving to better his condition. There is one 



76 Reading Character. 

who never smiles, he does not care what way the 
boat goes, because it does not belong to him. 
There is one who has a continual frown, a coarse, 
rough face, he has no devotion for his fellow men. 
There is one who has a perpetual smile and is a 
very simple character. Here is another who is 
always watching the foreman, wishing he would 
turn his back or go away, so he could shirk. 
Here is one who has a bold defiant look, almost 
saying, ''Do not say anything to me, for I am 
a dangerous character." This sort of man is 
generally boastful and self opinionated, and does 
but little. There is one who is wondering who 
you are, where you came from and what is your 
business. There is one- who thinks you came 
to see him, and if you did not, you are in small 
business. There is one who thinks you are talk- 
ing about him, and will sulk for half a day un- 
der this impression. There is one who thinks you 
and every one else is beneath him and not worthy 
of any respect or notice. Most likely this per- 
son plays in a band or is a student from some 
mechanical asylum. And there is one who is at- 
tending strictly to business and pays no attention 
to any one, but is a good, faithful worker. 
These characters are in every shop. This may 
be an injustice to some, but as a general rule it 



Reading Character. 77 

is true. This goes to show how imagination will 
steal away that manly character, which makes 
us men of noble thoughts and deeds, for our con- 
struction of thought should thwart every con- 
ception of imagination. 

It is almost impossible for any man to ap- 
proach another, so as to form a correct idea of 
his character. You may approach one man with 
coldness and it will displease him, while you 
may approach another the same way and he will 
think you are an ideal man with a perfect char- 
acter. 

The secret of all our eminent foremen to-day 
is their knowledge and ability to read character. 
A man^s disposition governs his ability to carry 
out his calling. It is safe to say only one out of 
one hundred foremen are proficient in this art, 
the other ninety-nine do not give it sufficient 
meditation. This knowledge includes an ac- 
quaintance with men's active and moral powers, 
which prompt and guide human conduct. 

The men have desires and affections, sensitive- 
ness and feeling, and a conscience which is the 
road to behavior. It is necessary to know and 
to recognize these in all your dealings with them. 
It is impossible to understand and manage men 
successfully if this part of their nature is ignored. 



78 Reading Character. 

The sentiment of honor, the ambition to excel, 
the desire of approbation, and the power of 
sympathy appeals to what is right and what is 
wrong, and are at once most powerful and in- 
dispensable forces in the ambition of men, if 
used with due discretion. 

A foreman should give special attention and 
careful study to the reading of character. 



79 



LABOR UNIONS AND CAPITAL. 

As civilization advances, so advances the strife 
for money. The capitalist always ready to grasp 
the opportunity to work the laborers. Labor 
striving to get what it can from capital. 

The labor problem is one that can not be ig- 
nored or lightly set aside. It is vital and must 
be considered from a broad, philosophical stand- 
point, rather than one narrow and selfish. The 
inborn hope of mankind, for money, advancement 
and prominence, is a characteristic that cannot be 
destroyed. Environment, to a great extent, gives 
to the human race their idea of political economy. 

The banker has his ideal form of government, 
the laborer his, and as times advances the firmer 
becomes their belief ; and what is ignited by ob- 
servation and repeated ingratitude is what has 
separated these two classes to this extent. The 
outcome is almost appalling. 

Capital and labor are mutually suspicious, both 
believing they are being wronged. 



80 Labor Union And Capital. 

The wonderful influence of apprehension in 
industrial matters is best illustrated by its power 
to produce and sustain industrial depression. 

Our American people seem to have a mania 
for money. This is as much a mental disease as 
any derangement of the intellect. 

There are times when it is far better to incur 
a great loss, than a small profit; this practically 
fits the situation of capital and labor; they are 
striving like two powerful giants to be master of 
their envious opponent, irrespective of the de- 
pression, destruction and loss to the human fam- 
ily; continually widening the chasms that insure 
perfect union, domestic tranquility and blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. 

To-day the greatest movement to promote the 
interest of the toilers, and the development of 
modern civilization, is through the labor organi- 
zation. The beauty of its lustre is now only cast- 
ing a slight gleam over our beautiful country; 
but in a few more years its triumph shall be the 
sublime light of the world. No longer will the 
toilers be as a commodity of the markets of the 
world; but as men who are entitled to demand 
justice in every sense of the word, and promote 



Labor Union And Capital 81 

the interests of their fellowmen and advance civ- 
ihzation to a standard in thought and education. 

The unions promote the well fare of our most 
skilled labor in the world; their influence inter- 
ests those who are interested in manufacture of 
any kind, whether employer or employe. 

A great deal more of a social spirit, and a 
more pleasant relation between employer and 
employe will be established, instead of the now 
predominating rumors of war and disrespect one 
for the other. 

If the employer would only stop and think, 
his true friend is that of the labor organization. 
It gives to him the very best class of workmen, 
a better form of intellect, of practical knowledge 
and improved conditions of the day. It also 
gives to him harmony among his men. 

Any man who employs non-union labor, if he 
makes an honest confession, will say that this 
class of labor is less reliable and more expensive, 
by far, than union labor. 

An employer who has the interests of his fel- 
low men at heart, and does not wish them and 
their families to starve, while in his employ, will 
give good wages for a good day's work and make 



82 Labor Union And Capital 

the men believe their interests are identical with 
the employer's; not always impressing upon their 
minds that they are in the bull pen and liable to 
be shot, if they look up from their work. 

The labor union protects the employer who 
wants to treat his men fairly. Without the 
unions, success in all industries would largely 
depend upon the ability of one man to produce 
his goods m.ore cheaply than another. In con- 
sequence, on the non-union basis, the manufac- 
turer, who treated his men as dogs and under 
paid them, would survive, and the honest em- 
ployer could not compete in the market for the 
sale of his goods. Therefore, under the non- 
union system it would take but a few years, un- 
der our present competitory system, to reduce 
labor to slavery; where if a uniform wage was 
paid to each employe, throughout our country, 
not be as severe as it is to-day. A fair number 
of hours, fair usage and a fair day's pay for a 
fair day's work, is all that either side should 
ask. Give the worker a sufficient sum to enable 
him to educate his children, in order to promote 
the intellect of our citizens of this nation. 

Remember that union labor keeps a man in 
his prime longer than the old system of non- 



Labor Union And Capital. 83 

union, when a man was worn out at forty Union 
reform has changed all this. It gives the work- 
man more freedom and independence. As a free 
man, empowered with all the liberties and bless- 
ings our country provides, it guarantees a full 
supply of competent labor. 

It is true, union labor has its faults, has its 
traitors and agitators; but we should not medi- 
tate on disbanding this glorious cause any more 
than we should abandon our republican form of 
government, because one or more of our public 
officers are corrupt. 

Labor organizations are not indebted to our 
public, but our public is indebted, manifold, to 
them, as they are the fountains of justice and 
happiness and the promoters of our industrial in- 
stitutions. 

Capitalists unite their money and energy to 
swell their coffers; form managers associations; 
appeal to the public, to get their sympathy, 
through their well paid agents, who make moun- 
tains out of mole hills, in order to down the 
very power that gives capital its existence. 

To show that the evidence is against capital 
for iniquitous dealings, I will mention a few 
conditions that exist to-day. Some of the most 



84 Labor Union And Capital. 

important evils are the kerosene oil operators, 
those of tin cans, wire, glass, copper, sugar, 
liquors, etc., the protective tariff, railroads, tele- 
graphs, stocks and insurance. Each of these, 
forces a tribute through the tariff on every man, 
woman and child, to give these gamblers of our 
nation, that which rightfully belongs to the 
people. 

Under pretence of benevolence they give thou- 
sands of dollars to a library or other institution, 
and then raise the price of their product to such 
an extent that they, not only receive back from 
the public, the principal they have invested, but 
a compound principal with interest. The coal 
trust limits its output, thus regulating the price 
of coal. Railroads, under the present system, 
are criminal larceny; they rate combinedly, on 
each article all it will stand. A carload of one 
kind of commodity, weighing the same as an- 
other, will cost twice as much, though both are 
drawn the same distance, and by the same loco- 
motive. These conditions do exist, and all the 
money comes out of the active class. 

What will be the outcome, if this continues? 
All the business will go into the hands of a few ; 
prices will be beyond reason ; investment of small 



Labor Union And Capital. 85 

capital will be fruitless, a one man power; no 
opportunities for the energetic ; small dealers will 
go out of business; and the nations wealth will 
be in the hands of a few unscrupulous men. The 
people will have to depend solely upon their 
labor for a livelihood, from these criminal insti- 
tutions. People who work for the corporations 
will have to work harder, in order to retain their 
position. A continued condition, such as this 
which is developing here to-day, will, if not 
stopped, place the white man where the colored 
man was before the civil war. Our asylums, 
poor houses and jails will be in great demand, 
and our long loved union nation will be in the 
annals of oblivion. 

This is the condition which labor organizations 
wish to abolish. They are the majority of the 
nation, the fathers of our posterity and the foun- 
dation of our liberty and protection 

The union organizations protect our American 
citizen, keep them from want and secure happi- 
ness among the masses. 

Contrast the intelligence of a union man with 
a non-union man. Contrast our American paid 
union man with a Chinese or India workman, or 
the element which is fast landing upon our 



B6 Labor Union And Capital. 

shores, to enter into competition with men of 
skill and education. 

Contrast the union men of to-day with the la- 
borer of twenty years ago, in this country. To- 
day nine of every ten union men can stand be- 
fore an audience and make themselves clearly 
understood, and in many instances display fine 
oratory. What did exist under the non-union 
system? There was only about one of every 
hundred who could write his name, say nothing 
of making an intelligent address to an audience. 

Unions promote sobriety and industry, this 
being in most cases a sworn obligation, which 
they are to promote. 

Being convinced of all these qualifications, is 
it not time to promote a cause so glorious and 
edifying, its only design being to uplift the poor 
and promote good government ; and not to vilify 
every form of justice and good government, 
which is now being done by the capital captains 
through our courts and legislatures, to enhance 
the value of their goods by cunning criminal 
managers, absorbing the nation's resources 
through fraud, bribery, perjury and dishonesty. 

Today does any one think that a human life 
has the value of the almighty dollar; will men 



Labor Union And Capital. 87 

not go farther to procure it than to save the life 
of one of their fellow creatures? 

Should the mother who steals bread for her 
starving children be in any greater danger of los- 
ing her liberty than the corporations v/hich steal 
the money of the people ? 

Should the man who plays cards for money in 
a gambling house be in any more danger of los- 
ing his liberty, than the men who go down to that 
larger gambling house called the Board of 
Trade ? 

Is the man who asks for five cents a day in- 
crease in his wages, and fair treatment from the 
bosses, any worse than the employers who hire 
little children to do men's work, and pay out 
thousands of dollars to the Employers' Associa- 
tion, to prevent giving their men fair pay and a 
decent livelihood? 

Is the walking delegate for a labor organization 
any worse than the boss who drives his men 
like slaves all day and tells them if they do not 
work harder they will be discharged? 

This is the real condition of affairs here to- 
day, and it is hoped that Labor and Capital will 
unite in their efforts and bring about an adjust- 
ment which will be satisfactory to all. 



88 



QUICK TEMPER. 

The most stubborn fault of man is quick tem- 
per. We are inclined to look upon quick temper 
as a very harmless weakness ; we speak of it as a 
mere matter of temperament and not a thing to 
take into serious account, in estimating a man's 
character. It is often the one blot on an other- 
wise noble character. You know men who would 
be entirely perfect but for the ''touchy" disposi- 
tion or quick temper. Some people think quick 
temper a mark of high quality, and mothers are 
often proud of their children who possess this 
fault. We are often told to control our temper, 
but are never told how necessary it is to over- 
come the feeling within. 

Every time a person becomes angry or ill- 
willed, he loses some of the power of the mind. 
Each time he controls a thought or feeling he 
gains mind power. 

In this hustling and bustling world it is hard 
to keep kind and full of good feeling while we 



Quick Temper. 89 

push through in pursuit of what, we think, is 
success. 

It is a duty to ourselves and our fellowmen 
to watch our tempers and be kind and courteous 
to all. 

Every person is born with a particular tem- 
perament in which there is an inheritance to 
maintain and increase itself, since it gives use 
to habits which increase and develop it; but this 
tendency may be greatly modified, if not counter- 
acted entirely, by external circumstances, by edu- 
cation and by training and controlling one's self 
whenever it appears on the surface. 

One should be perfectly composed at all times, 
for no one ever accomplishes much in the heat of 
temper. 

One should command his mental powers to 
such an extent that he can bring them to a con- 
servative focus on matters under contemplation. 
This he must be able to do in the midst of dis- 
traction and the most aggravating circumstances. 

Horace Mann says: 
''Of all bad things by which mankind are cursed, 
Their own bad temper surely are the worst." 



90 



THE RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT 
AND FOREMAN. 

There should be some definite relation between' 
superintendent and foreman in shops. Harmony 
and unity can be maintained only by carrying 
into eflfect the general plans and orders which 
proceed from a recognized authority. In the 
absence of some well defined power for conform- 
ing to the prescribed order of things, some degree 
of disobedience is likely to arise. 

A shop, in which faction exists, never will at- 
tain the required results, and unless there is a 
feeling existing among the foremen that they 
have the hearty co-operation of their superiors, 
their fidelity will not be as great as though they 
securely felt the co-operation of the superintend- 
ent or those over them. 

This should not be construed to mean that 
there should not be a difference of opinion, for 
when a person has no lopinion of his own, it is 
an evidence of weakness; but if this opinion is 
always infallible and not subject to criticism, 



The Relation of Superintendent And Foreman. 91 

there is evidence of bigotry. One should be con- 
siderate with the other, and, speak as you mean, 
do as you profess, and perform what you 
promise. 

Superintendents, as a rule, are very apt to 
overstep the bounds of courtesy in dealing with 
their foremen. They generall}^ find someone 
upon whom they can lay all blame. 



92 



PROFANITY, 

Profanity, used by a foreman, is one of the 
most degrading of all forms of vice, for which 
he has no apology or excuse. It indicates no 
power of thought, no power of command, nor 
does it impart any manliness. 

Profanity is only used by the ignorant and 
worthless and is disdained by the honorable and 
worthy. No man becomes richer, wiser, happier 
or more elevated by its use. It is disgusting to 
society, a blight to good government and an in- 
sult to our Creator. 

It is written — ''The greatest of faults is to be 
conscious of none,'' and profanity is one of the 
greatest of faults we should be ever conscious 
of. 



REPUTATION. 

Reputation is the estimation held by others of 
you, in a state of society A good reputation 
cannot be estimated, nor is there any greater 
virtue than can be bestowed upon man. 



Reputation. 93 

When a man has a good character and an un- 
blemished reputation, he is respected by all those 
from whom respect is due, and given the benefit 
of a doubt, by bias minds. 

Your actions towards your fellowmen, your 
devotion for their well being is what estimates 
your reputation among men. 

How poor are they who have no reputation. 



94 



SHOULD A FOREMAN DO PHYSICAL 
LABOR. 

It has often been said, ''A good foreman should 
never do physical labor while he is performing 
his duty." This, I should say, is a mistake in 
some cases, for instance, a foreman has a very 
intelligent lot of men under his supervision and 
he wishes to get out the work as soon as pos- 
sible. It would be wrong to step up to a good, 
hard working man and say, ''Get this job out 
as soon as possible,'' and then stand idly by and 
not give assistance in completing the work. The 
man would simply imply from his actions that 
he was imposing upon him, and he would per- 
haps regret his mistake before the work was 
completed. 

A man always thinks more of a foreman who 
will aid him in lifting or performing a portion 
of his toil, if done cheerfully. 

There is another class of men who will not 
come under this rule. They are men who do not 
take any interest in the work; those who are il- 



Should a Foreman Do Physical Lahorf 95 

literate and inconsiderate. This class of men 
are generally those who are not familiar with the 
energy and thrift of the American people. A 
foreman, to govern this class of men, necessarily 
has to stand over them continually or he will not 
accomplish the desired results; for as soon as 
his back is turned they will begin to shirk and 
neglect their work. It is a very tiresome job 
to be a foreman over this class of men ; for some- 
times his greatest endeavor to do justice to them 
is ignored and disdained and the men think he 
is trying to injure them in some way. Circum- 
stances govern in a great many instances. A 
foreman should use his own judgment to a con- 
siderable extent. He should not make a pack 
horse of himself, nor a policeman, only carrying 
the weight of his authority, the club, but he 
should be governed by conditions and circum- 
stances. 



FOREMEN SHOULD BE EXEMPT FROM 
CONTROL TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. 

To what extent should the managers and su- 
perintendents interfere with the foremen in their 
employment? The general principle is easily 
stated. Foremen are to be held responsible for 
the quality of their work and the shop discipline, 
and they should be allowed to follow their own 
way of doing the work, as far as is consistent 
with good management. 

The distribution of work, the hiring and dis- 
charging of men, adjusting their wages and all 
minor grievances should be adjusted by fore- 
men. Within his jurisdiction the foreman should 
be master of the situation, and only under extra- 
ordinary circumstances should the superintendent 
or any of the officials interfere A good fore- 
man will do better work and more, if confidence 
and trust are placed in him. It is not out of 
place for superintendent' or manager to offer sug- 
gestions to foremen and to make certain restric- 
tions; but in many cases it is best to be lenient 



FGrcmcn Should Be Exempt From Control 97 
To a Certain Extent. 

where there has been no great violation or mis- 
management. 

Foremen should not be looked upon as ma- 
chines, but should be credited with what they 
do and what they promote. The superintendent 
and manager should extend the hand of a co- 
worker. 

Perpetual interference in minor afifairs, which 
in time will cure themselves, is only an offense 
to good shop management. A shop should be a 
co-operating institution, not an asylum of despots, 
not animated by the transmission of power, but 
the joint efforts of all, transmitted by devotion 
to their work. 

Hold foremen responsible for results, aid them 
by suggestion and advise, and allow them free- 
dom in their planning and methods of getting 
out the work. 



98 



INVESTIGATION. 

We observe from the general conditions of 
shops and factories that very Httle attention is 
given to investigation, which is absolutely- 
necessary to good government and discipline. 
We observe that it is inclusive of all that for- 
mal examination of the truth of facts bear- 
ing upon any supposed case of discipline of- 
fered as determinative of actuality or its rela- 
tive demerit, which will be best seen from this 
that it differs from detection in being always 
premeditated, but without involving any 
scheme discovery. It applies to cases in which 
partial is already attained, which, however, 
needs to be tested and made complete. It is 
formal and open in all of its practices and it 
attains its ends only through logical conclu- 
sions resting above on the basis of evidence. 
These characteristics of investigation and the 
evident difficulty to be experienced in deter- 
mining whether on a logical basis both the ac- 
tuality of the offense and its relative demerit 



Investigation. 99 

are at once suggestive of the extreme import- 
ance to be attached to this part of discipline. 
Were this not enough a simple reference to 
the laws of civil courts would argue the same. 
All this array of witnesses and jurymen, all 
this grave educing and sifting of testimony, all 
this elaborate reasoning upon the evidence and 
all this patient deliberation upon the whole 
case prepared to the rendering of a verdict are 
so many grave indications of the importance 
to be everywhere attached to the proper in- 
vestigation of offenses, while the extensive in- 
terest may be the more in the applications of 
good government. The intrinsic importance 
to the shops and factories of guide and certain 
decisions under this government cannot be 
over-estimated. In the state an erroneous de- 
cision is injurious in the shops and factories 
from the comparative of its subjects in most 
cases and false judgment is tyranny. From 
this it follows that inasmuch as in the admin- 
istration of shop government the foreman in 
most cases is the jury and judge and inasmuch 
as he becomes himself an offender if he trusts 
to the blind guidance of mere impressions or 
the doubtful reasoning of a crude understand- 

L.ofC. 



100 Investigation. 

ing-, it becomes imperative on him to possess 
some consistent knowledge of practical logic, 
at least so far as it involves a knov^ledge of 
the laws of evidence and the of some conclusions, 
hence no one should be without a specific 
training in this direction and it should be af- 
forded to the foreman by superintendents or 
managers, but a concise treatise of evidence 
should be regarded by him as an indispensable 
part of his library and this is the more im- 
perative from the fact that throughout the 
community so many evils result from the pre- 
vailing ignorance of the very important knowl- 
edge to be derived from such works. What 
these evils are is potent to every one conver- 
sant with the proceedings of our civil and 
especially our ecclesiastical courts. As has 
been already intimated, investigation or judg- 
ment involves a logical, in fact in every such 
case of discipline, the foreman should find 
whether John Doe is innocent or John Doe is 
guilty, of a misdemeanor so that it shall 
conform to the necessary and noble maxim, 
'Every man should be presumed to be inno- 
cent until he is found to be guilty." Since 
both of them are adjudicators, the foreman 



Investigation. 101 

should be the most mindful of its observance. 
The evidence of w^hich the foreman is to rely 
in the solution of this proposition is two-fold, 
present evidence or testimony and circumstan- 
tial evidence. Personal evidence or testimony 
proper by a foreman himself to be understood 
in a restricted sense and as impressing only 
the statements made with reference to the of- 
fense itself by the employes claiming to have 
a direct personal knowledge of its occurrence 
or non-occurrance. This is evidence. Direct 
and positive circumstantial evidence as em- 
ployed by the foreman impresses the state- 
ments made by the employes with reference 
to such remote facts as do not involve a direct 
knowledge of the offense itself, but which was, 
in the nature of things, related to it and which 
so concur in their relation to it as to find their 
basis on their own explanation in either its 
related or non-related. This evidence is in- 
direct and may be either corroborative or in 
itself sufficient. It is, however, not to be ac- 
cepted as positive evidence. To illustrate this, 
let John Doe be charged with throwing some- 
thing at another or committing some misde- 
meanor that is prohibited by the rules and 



102 Investigation, 

regulations of the shop if it is in the testimony 
that John Jones saw him do it or that John 
Smith saw the' piece that was thrown beside 
John Doe immediately before it was thrown, 
it is circumstantial evidence that John Doe 
threw this piece, whatever it was, and struck 
somebody else. This in fact is not positive 
evidence, but it tends to prove if there is no 
evidence to the contrary that John Doe did 
throw the material as aforesaid. In procuring 
testimony and evidence it is absolutely neces- 
sary that we take into question everything 
that is material to and in connection with the 
case. It is always necessary to discover the 
position in which the person who was hit was 
standing. This will tend to prove the direc- 
tion from which the substance was thrown. 
It is not our object to gfo very deeply into the 
technicalities of conclusive or circumstantial 
evidence but to cite a simple case in which 
a theory can be adopted as a general rule. 
From what has been thus far suggested it 
must be evident that in the government of 
shops and factories circumstantial evidence 
elsewhere in the administration of justice ad- 
mitted as affording sufficient proof ought not, 



Investigation. 103 

except in rare cases, to be accepted as in it- 
self conclusive. In the factories or shops 
whose subjects are so oftentimes weak and 
helpless and over whom knowledge and author- 
ity can attain an absolute rule the probability 
is, however, strong, that they cannot afford 
to be very expensive in their administration 
of justice for the mere fact man being a very 
impulsive being, will commit misdeameanors 
and acts contrary to the law and custom used 
in shops and factories that he would not if he 
had given it sufficient thought and meditation, 
because a great deal depends upon him in 
many cases to keep his family and his home 
above the financial credit of the community, there- 
fore so long as certainty cannot be retained, dis- 
cipline must be suspended to the impunity in 
the commission of the offenses, as evil cer- 
tainly rules such cases which are to be 
incidental, and will, to some extent, be coun- 
ter-balanced by the moral effect of an evi- 
dent determination on the part of the fore- 
man to forego even justice until it is com- 
petent to stand forth in its severity beyond 
doubt or challenge. In this connection, it is 
important to caution the foreman against an 



104 Investigation. 

error into which some unhappily fall, namely, 
that of basing a theme of strategy. It is 
sometimes the case that in the conscious ab- 
sence of sufficient testimony the foreman will 
assume with the accused, and puts on the show 
of having established the fact of his guilt in 
order to produce in his mind a conviction of 
the uselessness of further concealment of facts 
to induce an actual conviction of the fault. 
The course is fiction on several grounds, 
in the first place it is particularly designed. 
It involves falsehoods by implications. The 
foreman says by his actions I know all the 
facts ; I am fully assured of your guilt ; I do 
not need your conviction, I only seek it for 
its influence on yourself and its bearing on 
the amount of the punishment, but not one 
particle of this is true. Now a foreman 
should take good heed that he should not at- 
tempt to establish virtue through the inter- 
vention of an immorality. In the second place 
the use of such means cannot but impair the 
foreman's own upright self-consiousness and 
so must naturally tend to destroy that clear 
sincerity and confidence of manner upon 
which so much of his influence over the shop 



Investigation. 106 

and factory depends. He who can resort to 
such means without himself wearing the look 
of a conscious culprit is either to be pitied or 
detested. Certain it is that if he deals much 
in such base artifices he will not long retain 
that aspect of fine upright glory of conscious 
purity and honor, hence the foreman might 
better forego the administration of presump- 
tive justice rather than demoralie himself. 
Lastly, the employes are not always so obtuse 
and simple as not to discover the detestfulness 
of the artifice. If he does pry into its exis- 
tence an irreparable blow has been in- 
flicted upon the forman's character and influ- 
ence. Even if the employe does not throughly 
discovered the imposition he will in confessing 
his fault rebel in heart against this kind of 
justice, however just, as having been reached 
in some way to which he has unwisely allowed 
himself to be made an accomplice. The influ- 
ence of any such conviction cannot but be 
injurious. The civil law wisely relieves the 
accused from the necessity of testifying 
against himself and not merely that he may 
be saved from the temptation to perjure him- 
self, but that when he is condemned, he may 



106 Investigation. 

the more deeply realize the certainty of 
justice and righteousness of the authority. 
This lesson from the civil affairs should not 
be lost upon the foreman. Let his discipline 
wait until he is able to sustain on his own 
proper basis a sufficient evidence. It remains 
only to give expression to a caution or two in 
the use of circumstantial evidence and at- 
tached to it, regarding it chiefly is a species of 
immediate corroborative circumstances or 
proof. It is upon the foreman always to ac- 
cept it with great caution and to sift it with 
the utmost care, especially let him be upon his 
guard against that species of evidence sup- 
posed to be found in personal indications of 
conscious guilt. A look of surprise, or appre- 
hension or of seeming shame so often taken as 
proof of man's guilt is by no means necessar- 
ily such, nay in the case of a great many per- 
sons whose timid and nervous aspiring charac- 
ter, it might be rather natural and it might be 
the conclusive evidence of innocence. Let 
then such appearances be searchingly scanned 
and be discovered to be the foreboding shadow 
of a guilty conscience before they are allowed 
to fling their darkness over the frowning judg^ 



Investigation, 107 

ment. Reverting now to the testimony proper 
it will be necessary to observe that its validity 
must rest upon the proper qualifications in the 
witness. A brief statement of those qualifica- 
tions will suffice for the present purpose. Their 
propriety will be more or less self-evident. 
They are these : The employe testifying, must 
have been clearly in a position enabling him to 
be personally cognizant of the facts whereof 
he affirms. Secondly, he must claim to have 
been, and to all appearances, must have been, 
thus directly cognizant of these facts. Thirdly, 
he must be of sufficient capacity to really 
know, and to correctly make known all the 
facts in the case in question. Fourthly, he 
must be generally accepted by those who know 
him to be perfectly reliable, in all his state- 
ments in every respect. Fifthly, he must be 
free from especial inducement, from either im- 
pulsiveness, interest, fear or personal animos- 
ity, which might naturally cloud his percep- 
tion or bias his representations. Under this 
last head it is necessary to caution the fore- 
man particularly against the peculiar tendency 
of the employe's haste in judgment and vivid- 
ness of imagination, to control his convictions 



108 Investigation. 

and shape his testimony. Nothing is more 
common or natural than for the employe, or 
finding facts leading to a conclusion to over- 
leap at once the remaining steps and assume 
what is really to be proved, and then to create, 
as it were, in his own conceptions, the very 
appearance which he assumes to have wit- 
nessed. Anyone who has observed how per- 
fectly employes' imagination efifects the most 
radical transformation in his conception and 
the absolute faith in which he will deal with 
the transformations thus effected, as reality, 
he will realize the force of the caution here ut- 
tered. While, however, the foreman keeps 
this caution in mind, let him not fall into the 
error and injustice of charging such perver- 
sion of fact to the Avant of truthfulness in the 
men. Their source is, as suggested above, in 
the intellect, and not in the heart. The testi- 
mony obtained from the proper witnesses may 
be of three species, namely, simple, accumula- 
tive and current testimony. Simple testimony 
is that which stands by itself, and which is 
unsustained by anything beyond the charac- 
ter of the sin^ele witness. Accumulated testi- 
mony is that, which going beyond the single 



Investigation. 109 

witness, stands with other testimony of a Hke 
kind obtained from multiplied witnesses. It is 
sustained not only by the character of each 
witness, but by the very fact of its accumula- 
tion. Current testimony like the accumula- 
tive testimony involves a multiplication of wit- 
nesses and, like that is stronger for its multi- 
plication. The evidence involved does not, 
however, like that of accumulative testimony, 
rest for its verity or force upon the character 
of the witness but only upon their concur- 
rence in this way involves the fact, namely, if 
the fact really occurred, then such a concur- 
rence becomes clearly possible; if it did not 
occur, then a concurrence is, as the case may 
be, either not probable or possible. The char- 
acteristics of the testimony as a whole, upon 
which the foreman may rest a decision, may 
now be briefly stated. They are as follows : 
First: It must be definite; not vague or gen- 
eral. Secondly. It must, to a reasonable ex- 
tent, be accumulated. Simple testimony 
should not be deemed sufficient. No more in 
a shop or factory than in the State, should the 
fate of a culprit lie in the hands of a single 
witness. Thirdly. It should be generally con- 



110 Investigation. 

current. A proper concurrence is in fact the 
crowning element in its strength, the ground 
of concurrent testimony, namely, first, the im- 
possibility or improbability of collusion on the 
part of the witness; secondly the absence of 
any motives in the individual witnesses, which 
are adequate to lead to the given testimony, 
without suppsing the reality of the fact to 
which they testify. If both these points can 
be established, or if it is impossible to detect 
anything to the contrary the evidence is valid 
and conclusive. And this will be so, unimpor- 
tant differences in the individual testimony to 
the contrary notwithstanding. Nay, so long 
as there is a clear concurrence as to the main 
facts, the evidence is really the stronger for 
these divergencies. The element in judgment 
as a part of the shop and factory government 
which remains to be considered, is Decision. 
Decision is the final determination in the fore- 
man's mind of the innocence or guilt of the ac- 
cused; and, if the latter, of its demerit or 
proper measure of punishment. This decision 
to be valid and complete must be marked by 
two characteristics ; namely, it must be posi- 
tive, overt and explicit. As positive it must 



Investigation. Ill 

embrace either the one or the other result, 
either that of actual innocence or actual gilt. 
No half way conclusion should be accepted 
if the guilt be not established, whatever may 
be the possibilities, assume, as has been be- 
fore demanded that the accused is innocent. 
We hold this principle to be more imperative 
in shop and factory government than in civil 
government. It is necessary, too, that the de- 
cision, when distinctly attained, be publicly 
declared. It is neither just to the culprit nor 
good to the shop and factory that it should be 
allowed to remain delayed or concealed, and 
consequently imperative. Under ordinary cir- 
cumstances the steps of the investigation are 
ordinarily known, so should be the end 
reached. And the announcement of the de- 
cision should be prompt and explicit. Any 
half way, dilatory or equivocal statement of 
the foreman's real conviction and determina- 
tion are discreditable to him and injurious to 
employes and also to employer. Let the fore- 
man at once, kindly but fearlessly, render a 
clear verdict and pass a just sentence. Noth- 
ing can be more unreasonable and even hate- 
ful than the timid or malicious procrastination 



112 Investigation, 

or prevarication involved in the too common 
announcement: ''I cannot attend to the mat- 
ter now/' or ''I will let you know my decision 
by and by/' It not only impeaches the fore- 
man's judgment or his courage, but it moves 
the employe's spirits and perhaps determines 
him upon a fiercer resistance to the subse- 
quent discipline. 

From what has been thus far urged, it must 
be quite evident what must be the general 
characteristics of judgment in the govern- 
ment of shops and factories. It must be, be- 
yond a reasonable doubt, deliberate, compre- 
hensive and righteous and decisive. Without 
proper deliberateness there cannot be in the 
foreman neither that air of quiet strength nor 
that evident care to secure even-handed jus- 
tice which is necessary to the highest influ- 
ence as a ruler. Without such comprehen- 
siveness in judgment as embraces both sides 
of disputed questions and all the facts bear- 
ing upon their elucidation, no foreman can be 
secure against undue bias and against the 
ultimate impairing of the confidence in the 
candor and rectitude of this decision, and 
without that prompt and explicit decisiveness 



Investigation. 113 

which, after due investigation, brings a case 
to a clear and unmistakable conclusion, his 
government will fail to command that convic- 
tion of its strength and determination which 
must underlie just reverence and implicit sub- 
mission. On these points no further enlarge- 
ment is necessary, as we have given those funda- 
mental principles which underlie the doctrine of 
evidence, and government, and to discuss it fur- 
ther would be only perplexing to the foreman. 



114 



CONCLUSION. 

Do not form a habit, or do things because 
some one else does. Stand upon your own re- 
sources, never depend upon others to think for 
you. He who is incapable of forming his own 
conclusion, even though he be ever so well edu- 
cated, is lacking the very best quality that goes 
to make him a success. 

We are but a few generations removed from 
the cannibal and savage, who were ever dutiful 
to their leader or chief ; who was looked up to by 
the others as an infallible being; could commit 
no wrong and was ever justified in all his acts, 
even to the taking of the lives of half his tribe, 
levying war, or going through a series of torture 
to the flesh. But in our advanced state of civili- 
zation we have the opportunity of thinking and 
expressing our own opinion. We have discov- 
ered that the one man rule is the curse to any 
government or society. Instead of myths and 
superstitions we have fundamental facts to found 
our opinions upon; and when we have laid our 



Conclusion. 115 

foundation, let us not build from the whimsical 
ideas of designing men, but let us build and think 
for ourselves. 

No man, to-day, is infallible, we are all subject 
to mistakes. The day of the chief, the one man 
rule is gone, and we should not for a moment, 
think of one backward step to the condition that 
did exist among the tribes during the primitive 
ages. 

Look at the products of toil ; on every hand we 
find the work of our fellow men, from the tower- 
ing castle to the minutest construction, all are 
completed by the hands of the workers, whose 
skill and ingenuity has made our country one of 
the foremost in the world's markets. They have 
made it the foremost in education, as an aggre- 
gate, and built under our government a founda- 
tion, the constitution, that is unparalleled. 



i^J kJ 



